History Of Christianity

"More to the point, what was the lesson that the first Christians drew from the crucifixion? Today such a barbarity might galvanize people into opposing brutal regimes, or demanding that such torture never again be inflicted on a living creature. But those weren’t the lessons the early Christians drew at all. No, the execution of Jesus is The Good News, a necessary step in the most wonderful episode in history. In allowing the crucifixion to take place, God did the world an incalculable favor. Though infinitely powerful, compassionate, and wise, he could think of no other way to reprieve humanity from punishment for its sins (in particular, for the sin of being descended from a couple who had disobeyed him) than to allow an innocent man (his son no less) to be impaled through the limbs and slowly suffocate in agony. By acknowledging that this sadistic murder was a gift of divine mercy, people could earn eternal life. And if they failed to see the logic in all this, their flesh would be seared by fire for all eternity. According to this way of thinking, death by torture is not an unthinkable horror; it has a bright side. It is a route to salvation, a part of the divine plan. Like Jesus, the early Christian saints found a place next to God by being tortured to death in ingenious ways. For more than a millennium, Christian martyrologies described these torments with pornographic relish."

"This analysis demonstrates the disparity between the rabbinic discourse, the Christian and Roman rulings, and the theological and exegetical discourse. It shows how Christians remodeled their biblical heritage according to Greek and Roman legal concepts, namely the Roman adoption and the Greek epiklerate, and treated it as part of inheritance law and child-parent relationships, whereas the rabbis used different adaptations and treated it as part of matrimonial law and sexual relationships. This discussion therefore recontextualizes the legal discourse, positioning the Christian approach to levirate marriage as a complex case of legal transplant and adaptation of a legal heritage."

"In this article, I have sought to re-contextualize the Roman and Christian ban on levirate marriage, positioning this legal tradition as it was viewed by the Christians of the first centuries CE. I have demonstrated the transfer of a legal tradition from its biblical origin to a new Greek and Roman setting, which reshaped it and repositioned it within a larger legal context. However, revealing the Christian remodeling of this biblical inheritance also changes our understanding of the Roman and Christian prohibition on levirate marriage, revealing the differences between the legal discourse and the theological discourse and between the legal discourse and interreligious discourse. The story of the rise of Christian legal traditions in late antiquity, following the New Testament, and their relation to the biblical inheritance, rabbinic surroundings, and Greco-Roman environment is yet to be told. In this case, the story is not one of a polemic with contemporaneous Jews who observed halakha, Jewish-Christian groups, or Christians preserving biblical law. Rather, it is the story of an inherited legal tradition that was transferred to a new world. It was restructured according to contemporaneous Greek and Roman legal concepts and used in theological discourse, even though it did not fully correlate with other Christian legal discourse or with the new laws of the empire. As such, it is a significant fragment in chronicling the rise of a unique Christian legal tradition in a world of inherited biblical traditions and contemporaneous Greek and Roman legal concepts and rulings."

"What happened to biblical law when it was transferred into the new world of late antiquity? How was it understood, and what were the reasons for this particular interpretation? Answering these questions can provide a paradigm to help explain the development of late antique Christian legal traditions and discourse in their Greco-Roman and Jewish contexts. Accompanying the rise of Christianity in the first centuries of the Common Era, Christian legal discourse and traditions began to evolve. These embryonic legal traditions combined Roman law, Greek legal traditions, biblical law, and rabbinic halakha, interweaving them with their own ethical stances. Scholars tend to study the development of Christian legal traditions, especially matrimonial law, from one of two perspectives: either in relation to Roman law, mainly focusing on Christian sources from the second century onward, or in connection to biblical and early halakhic traditions, largely concentrating on the Old and New Testaments and Qumranic sources. In this article, I seek to portray a less dichotomous and more nuanced picture of the Christian approach to biblical and Jewish legal traditions, on the one hand, and Roman and Greek legal traditions, on the other. I address the different ways in which Christians adapted a biblical legal institution by using legal concepts drawn from the Greco-Roman world, yet not directly taking part in the Greco-Roman legal discourse, and compare this phenomenon to the rabbis’ understanding and alteration of this same biblical legal institution in the Tannaitic and Amoraic literature."

"Robinson has snatched away the comfort of the urban thesis. The idea that at the time of the Edict of Milan (313) some 10 per cent of the population of the Roman empire was Christian, 6 million persons out of a population of 60 million, has been (he observes) commonly put forward as a working assumption for the size of the Christian movement. But the Roman empire was largely rural with as few as 10 per cent of the population living in cities. If the rural Christian population approximated to zero, the cities would then have to be thought to be (at least) largely Christian - which ample evidence shows that they were not. Therefore, the numbers usually cited in recent work for the size of the Christian population cannot stand; and neither can the claim of no substantial number of Christians in rural areas. The model normally drawn on in studying the growth of early Christianity, therefore, is no longer plausible. Like Gregory, the historian must leave the 'safe and peaceful city' behind."

"Leaving his beloved teacher Origen behind in Caesarea Maritimma about the year 240, bound for his distant home in the province of Pontus, Gregory of Neocaesarea (Niskar) turned to a catastrophic flight of rhetoric: I may be going to prosecute no safe journey, as it sometimes fares with one who quits some safe and peaceful city; and it is indeed but too likely that, in journeying, I may fall into the hands of robbers, and be taken prisoner, and be stripped and wounded with many strokes, and be cast forth to lie half-dead somewhere. Many miles of road lay ahead of him. Edward Gibbon would say of the Roman roads of the Antonine age that they 'united the subjects of the most distant provinces by an easy and familiar intercourse'; but however 'easy and familiar' these roads supposedly were, cities were much safer. For the modern historians of the early churches cities have had a similar appeal. Christianity, Thomas A. Robinson notes, 'was, supposedly an urban religion'. Noting how widespread this view is ('almost every recent scholar of the early church' had held it), Robinson cites powerful names - Ramsay MacMullen and W.H.C. Frend - before naming Wayne A. Meeks (in The First Urban Christians) as the historian 'primarily responsible for the now near-universal assumptions of the urban character of early Christianity'."

"The early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide, and gladiatorial contests.Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are."

"Inquiry shall likewise be made about the professions and trades of those who are brought to be admitted to the faith. ... If a man is an actor or pantomimist, he must be rejected. ... A gladiator or a trainer of gladiators, or a huntsman, or anyone connected with these shows ... must desist or be rejected. ... A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath; if he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected. ... If a catechumen or a believer seeks to become a soldier, they must be rejected, for they have despised God."

"The public veneration of saints in the Christian Church is known to have existed in the 2nd century. As will be shown below, it developed in local communities; it was based on the saint's tomb; it was a consequence of the general belief that a martyr who shed his blood for Christ was certainly in Heaven and able to exercise intercessory prayer on behalf of those who invoked him. It has often been asserted that the cult of saints was both a borrowing from and a substitute for the polytheistic cults of the ancient Graeco-Roman world. In its crude form the theory is completely unconvincing, especially when the nature of the cults is considered and placed in its context of Christian doctrine, worship, and life. But it can readily be conceded that many eternal elements such as anniversaries, shrines, incubation, and iconography have all been at the very least deeply influenced by pagan Mediterranean models. Nevertheless, the cults of saints originated in the beliefs and practice of Jewry and early Christianity."

"The beginnings of an identifiable Christian art can be traced to the end of the second century and the beginning of the third century. Considering the Old Testament prohibitions against graven images, it is important to consider why Christian art developed in the first place. The use of images will be a continuing issue in the history of Christianity. The best explanation for the emergence of Christian art in the early church is due to the important role images played in Greco-Roman culture. As Christianity gained converts, these new Christians had been brought up on the value of images in their previous cultural experience and they wanted to continue this in their Christian experience. For example, there was a change in burial practices in the Roman world away from cremation to inhumation. Outside the city walls of Rome, adjacent to major roads, catacombs were dug into the ground to bury the dead. Families would have chambers or cubicula dug to bury their members. Wealthy Romans would also have sarcophagi or marble tombs carved for their burial. The Christian converts wanted the same things. Christian catacombs were dug frequently adjacent to non-Christian ones, and sarcophagi with Christian imagery were apparently popular with the richer Christians."

"Early Christians condemned abortion, but did not view the termination of a pregnancy to be an abortion before "ensoulment", the definition of when life began in the womb. Up to 400 AD., as the relatively few Christians were widely scattered geographically, the actual practice of abortion among Christians probably varied considerably and was influenced by regional customs and practices."

"Where is that fire which once descended On thy Apostles? thou didst then Keep open house, richly attended, Feasting all comers by twelve chosen men. […]The sun, which once did shine alone, Hung down his head, and wish'd for night, When he beheld twelve suns for one Going about the world and giving light."

"I have learned by experience that there is but one God that pertains to this people, and He is the God that pertains to this earth-the first man. That first man sent his own Son to redeem the world, to redeem his brethren; his life was taken, his blood shed, that our sins might be remitted. That Son called twelve men and ordained them to be Apostles, and when he departed the keys of the kingdom were deposited with three of those twelve, viz.: Peter, James, and John. Peter held the keys pertaining to that Presidency, and he was the head."

"What is an apostle really? Frankly, the impression we get from the New Testament hardly permits us to claim that these men were great or ingenious in the worldly sense. It is difficult to count them even 'great religious personalities,' if by this we mean bearers of inherent spiritual talents. John and Paul were probably exceptions, but we only risk misunderstanding them both by overstating this. On the whole we do the apostle no service by considering him a great religious personality. This attitude is usually the beginning of unbelief. Personal importance, spiritual creativeness, dynamic faith are not decisive in his life. What counts is that Jesus Christ has called him, pressed his seal upon him, and sent him forth."

"Polycarp replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, "Do you know me?" "I do know thee, first-born of Satan." Such was the horror of the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth."

"We believe it would not be right for us to administer either Baptism or the Lord's Supper unless we had a commission so to do from those Bishops whom we apprehend to be in a succession from the Apostles."

"Today it is almost a distinguishing mark of Catholics that they see a real function for the Apostles. In non-Catholic writing, no more important function can be found for them than to be foils to the brilliancy of their Master, which is to say fools asking their foolish questions to bring out the wisdom of His answers, very much the function of in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Yet they meant something very important to Our Lord—"You have not chosen Me, I have chosen you." [John 15:16] And even if we hold it not surprising that those Christians who have lost the sense of the divinely-founded hierarchical structure of the Church should not see the function of the Apostles as the first members of that hierarchy, it is still surprising that any Christian should overlook this other function to which we have been leading up. For these were the men who knew Christ before they knew He was God. Had they known from the beginning, they might simply have feared Him, and fear might have made a bar to any progress in intimacy. But by the time that they knew beyond the possibility of uncertainty that He was God, it was too late to have only fear. For by the time they knew He was God, they had come to know that He was love. If they had known that Christ was God first, then they would have applied their idea of God to Christ; as it was, they were able to apply their knowledge of Christ to God. The principal fruit for them and for us of their three years of companionship with Him was the unshakeable certainty of His love for men; and it was St. John, the Apostle He loved best, who crystallized the whole experience for us in the phrase of his first Epistle, "God is Love." (iv. 8)"

"God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things."

"Since the first ordained Lutheran pastors were ordained by pastors who had been ordained in the Roman Catholic church and so on through the generations, we could claim historic succession as plausibly as can Roman Catholic priests if it simply were dependent on being ordained in a line of pastors. But for the historic succession to be considered legitimate by Rome or the Orthodox or Anglicans it must be mediated through the correct bishops. Rome does not recognize as legitimate even the ordinations done by bishops in historic succession as in the Church of Sweden and the Church of England. Only through bishops connected to the pope is the historic succession legitimate in their eyes."

"I was born Jewish. I received the name of my paternal grandfather, Aaron. Having become Christian by faith and baptism, I have remained Jewish. As did the Apostles."

"A book is a mirror: if an ape looks into it, you can't expect an apostle to look out."

"The church of Notre-Dame de Paris is still no doubt, a majestic and sublime edifice. But, beautiful as it has been preserved in growing old, it is difficult not to sigh, not to wax indignant, before the numberless degradations and mutilations which time and men have both caused the venerable monument to suffer, without respect for Charlemagne, who laid its first stone, or for Philip Augustus, who laid the last. On the face of this aged queen of our cathedrals, by the side of a wrinkle, one always finds a scar. Tempus edax, homo edacior; which I should be glad to translate thus: time is blind, man is stupid."

"The echoes of our glory and our losses, of our victories and our disasters, have always resounded under those vaults. We have always tolled the bells for our dead, sounded the tocsin of our anger and the carillon of our joys with the bourdon of its towers. Atheists and believers may share there the same memories, for they are France’s memories."

"'Europe' in anything other than the geographical sense is a wholly artificial construct. It makes no sense at all to lump together Beethoven and Debussy, Voltaire and Burke, Vermeer and Picasso, Notre Dame and St Paul's, boiled beef and bouillabaisse, and portray them as elements of a 'European' musical, philosophical, artistic, architectural or gastronomic reality. If Europe charms us, as it has so often charmed me, it is precisely because of its contrasts and contradictions, not its coherence and continuity."

"Notre-Dame is our history, our literature, part of our psyche, the place of all our great events, our epidemics, our wars, our liberations, the epicenter of our lives..."

"Let's be proud, because we built this cathedral more than 800 years ago, we've built it and, throughout the centuries, let it grow and improved it. So I solemnly say tonight: we will rebuild it together"

"In 1863, Brother Gondolph had an adobe class-room put up, erected porticos around the inner court, repaired the roofs of the houses, and laid a floor in San Miguel Church. Brother Geramius was appointed to succeed him September 10, 1867. Under Brother Geramius the boarding school of San Miguel took the title of San Miguel College. ...It was under the wise direction of Brother Botulph that the College took rapid strides and became an establishment of much note in the West. ...The College has continued to prosper, and new additions became necessary. The number of boarders for the year 1883 was ninety-four, and that number was increased in the two following years."

"Another incident.. during their stay at Willow Spring... One day they were surprised by the arrival in the camp of a lonely stranger, with beard unshaven, wearing a summer linen coat and carrying a gun upon his shoulder. The Stranger was tall and muscular, and there is no denying that they felt ill at ease. He spoke French to them, and they were glad to find an American with whom they could converse. ...He asked them many... questions and thus rendered them more uneasy. They told him all. He finally smiled and told them he was acquainted with their Bishop. "Who are you," they said, Smiling still more, he said, "I am Bishop Miège, the Vicar Apostolic of these Territories." Oh ! the joy then ! the petition for blessings ! the kissing of the ring ! Bishop Miège at that time was purely a missionary bishop, without any fixed residence... He was on his way from the Osage Mission to that of the Pottawattomies, and having heard of our party, had left the ambulance with its solitary driver to go to camp, while he made a little turn to see the young levites and cheer them in their dreary solitude. Of course he had no other means to provide for his evening meal than his gun. Thence the surprise of the party at seeing a Bishop in that accoutrement and engaged in such a work."

"During their stay at Willow Spring... while waiting for the arrival of the Bishop... the party in camp had more than once been obliged to supply their larder by hunting for game, which was then abundant in Kansas. Father Equillon, with the rest, strove to do his best for the common good. But, alas ! one day, after returning from a successful hunt, while putting his gun into the wagon, it slipped through an opening in the bed, exploded, and the unfortunate priest received the entire discharge in his right hand."

"Dr. Lamy and his band of priests and levites arrived at Louisville, Kentucky, towards the end of May, 1854. Without going to Loretto, they reached Cincinnati, thence by boat to St. Louis, and in the summer arrived at Kansas City and Westport, being thence directed to camp at Willow Spring, a romantic spot, with a fine spring of icy water gushing from under a huge boulder surrounded by trees, particularly willows of good size, with an abundance of grass for the animals. There they remained for six weeks waiting for the colony of Sisters who were to come and join them. In this, however, the Bishop was disappointed, as the Sisters were unable to send any of their number to the missions of New Mexico. The Bishop had his hands full buying animals, wagons and provisions, and perfecting all arrangements for a speedy departure."

"Among the saintly men who heard the voice of God in their hearts were the Reverends Taladrid, a priest from Madrid, Spain, whom the Bishop had met in Rome, Martin of the diocese of St. Flour, France, an old missionary in Africa, met also at Rome; Anthony Galiard, from Clermont, who stayed three years and then returned to France, where he soon died; Stephen Abel of Clermont, who subsequently died parish priest of Moro; Peter Eguillon, the actual Vicar-General of Santa Fé and parish priest of the cathedral, also a priest from the diocese of Clermont. Among the Seminarians were the Reverend Joseph Guérin, who died recently, parish priest of Mora. He was then deacon, and was ordained priest on the 23d of December of the past year, at Santa Fé, by Bishop Lamy; Eugene Pallet, parish priest of Belen, then a Subdeacon; and X. Vaure, a cleric in minor orders, who became sick with dysentery on the plains of Kansas, and died on the day of their arrival at Santa Fé. Forming the caravan were also the Reverend Eulogio Ortiz, a priest from New Mexico, who had accompanied the Bishop to Europe; Messrs. Jesus M. Ortiz and Florencio Gonzalez, who had been sent previously to France for a course in the Seminary of Clermont; an Irish family named Covington; and Mr. Macarthy, a lawyer, wbo acted as major domo for the Bishop on the journey."

"In the fall of 1853 the energetic young Bishop set out from Santa Fé with a caravan to cross those formidable plains, the American Desert, the home of the Indian and coyote, a desert extending nearly nine hundred miles in breadth, from New Mexico to the Missouri river. ...he made a flying visit to Loretto... to petition for more Sisters. ...The Bishop... embarked at New York, soon reached France, and at once visited Monsignor Ferron, the old bishop of Clermont, who had ordained him priest and had blessed his vocation to the missions of Cincinnati. From him also he received warm and fair promises to permit young apostles from his diocese to help him in his missions of New Mexico. ...In the meanwhile, the Bishop... set out for Rome where he was kindly received by Pius IX and Cardinal Barnabo, Prefect of the Propaganda. ...He soon afterward left Rome... and early in the spring of 1854 reached the city of Clermont. A number of young levites presented themselves to him, and to him expressed their willingness to cross the ocean and work under his careful direction."

"I could not pass over in silence the fine chapel and the Academy of Our Lady of Light, built entirely by the energy of Mother Magdalen and the self-abnegation of the Sisters, who many times deprived themselves of the necessary wants of life, in order to be able to erect a suitable temple to the Almighty and an Academy worthy of the high renown of the sister institution of Our Lady of Light. The chapel, commenced in 1873, is built of stone, with veins and arches of the purest Gothic style, constructed entirely of native material. This chapel... is a monument to the devotion of all interested in that great enterprise—a chapel which can compare favorably with the finest in the largest cities of the land. The Academy was commenced in the spring of 1880."

"Since then the new province has prospered beyond all human expectations, and besides the house of Santa Fé, in which is the novitiate, and which has been called the Convent of Our Lady of Light, it possesses the following houses: The Convent of the Annunciation, in Mora, was established in 1854, whilst Father J. B. Salpointe, now Archbishop of Santa Fé, was parish priest at that place. In 1853 the Convent of St. Joseph was established in Taos, under the care of the Rev. Gabriel Ussel, the parish priest of Taos. The Convent of Our Lady of Guadalupe was first established in Albuquerque in 1866, but that mission was given up in 1869. In the same year was established the Convent of the Immaculate Conception, in Las Vegas. In 1870 the Visitation Academy was established at Las Cruces, through the generosity of the Rt. Rev. J. B. Salpointe, then Vicar Apostolic of Arizona, in whose diocese Las Cruces was included. The Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was established in 1875 in Bernalillo. Later, in 1879, the Convent of Mount Carmel was established in Socorro. In 1864 the Convent and Academy of Denver was established. The zealous and untiring Father Machebeuf, the pastor of that rising city, and now its worthy Bishop, came himself to Santa Fé, and brought a colony of Sisters to the capital of Colorado. Since then the novitiate of Santa Fé, being unable to supply them with a sufficient number of Sisters, they are supplied from Loretto, and have themselves formed missions at Pueblo, Conejos and elsewhere, spreading everywhere the light of the knowledge of God and the sweet odor of the most exalted virtues."

"Afterwards the Sisters obtained, on very reasonable terms, a piece of property in a secluded part of the city, and containing the best looking house in town, and called La Casa Americana, the American house, because it had a shingle roof, all the other roofs in town being flat and covered with earth. An orchard and grounds were laid out, and the Sisters began to occupy their new home in September, 1855."

"The Bishop set out from Las Vegas on Wednesday, and on Thursday, 23d of September, quietly entered his episcopal city to prepare the way for the coming caravan... On Sunday, 26th, the party... started for Santa Fe where they arrived at four P.M. The people, led by Father Ortiz, and other Mexican priests, went several miles to meet them. As they approached the city, the crowd increased so much that the carriages could scarcely pass through the streets of the ancient metropolis. Triumphal arches had been erected, and the bells of the different churches were pealing. They were received at the door of the cathedral, presented with holy water, and led to the foot of the altar. The Te Deum was sung, accompanied by Mexican music, violin, guitars, etc., and the ceremony terminated with the episcopal blessing. Thence the Sisters were conducted by the Bishop, Vicar-General and clergy to the house prepared for them... and thus ended this long and painful journey, full of accidents and dangers. All felt glad at being finally at home in Santa Fé."

"During the journey he [Father Lamy] said mass and preached every Sunday but one, when it was absolutely impossible, but prayers were said in common."

"Las Vegas was reached on the 18th. This was the first Mexican town reached. The next morning the Bishop... sent Father Machebeuf with the Sisters to what was then called the Bishop's rancho or farm, a little over fifteen miles from Santa Fé."

"... and no mass was said until they reached Pawnee Fork, on the spot where now stands the town of Larned, at the junction of the Pawnee river and the Arkansas. For the first time, buffaloes were killed by the party, and fresh meat enjoyed."

"On the 7th of September they passed the then existing Fort Atkinson, and encamped some miles beyond, but still in Kansas, when a party of Indian warriors four hundred strong fell upon them and surrounded them. All were terrified, particularly the ladies. This was the Indians hunting ground, and whenever they could do so with impunity, they would attack caravans. On this occasion they seemed peaceable; the Bishop was even enabled to baptize the child of a captive Mexican woman. Still ...the Bishop thought prudent not to make any move, hoping they would retire; but as they seemed disposed to remain, he ordered his company to march in the evening, and the caravan traveled all night, as the Indians do not generally make their attacks in the dark."

"On the evening of August 1st they reached Willow Springs, a fine watering place a few miles from Westport, and there found the other party, ready to start. ...but they had proceeded only a few miles when one of the wagons broke down, and there they were obliged to camp in order to repair the wagon."

"After the death of Mother Mathilda, Sister Magdalen was chosen to fill the office of Superior, and this election was promptly approved and confirmed at Loretto. Thus was Mother Magdalen chosen in the designs of Providence to guide this young colony of Sisters to Santa Fé; to protect them against all the blasts of trials and difficulties; to build for them the material and spiritual edifice of their order in Santa Fé; to create schools and academies to the honor of Our Lady of Light..."

"As soon as they heard of the Bishop's return from New Orleans, they joined him at St. Louis and on the 10th of July left by the steamer "Kansas," which was to convey them as far as Independence. ...There had already been some cases of cholera on board, when, on Friday, the 16th... Mother Mathilda was attacked... she gave her soul into the hands of her Maker... Two hours later the steamer landed at Todd's Warehouse, six miles from Independence. In the meantime Sister Monica had also contracted the disease, and the landing was truly affecting, the Sisters following the couch of their dying Sister and the coffin of their dear Mother. The inhabitants stood in such dread of the cholera that the Sisters were not allowed to enter their houses, and were therefore obliged to remain in the warehouse. The next morning, July 17th, three of the Sisters, with the Bishop and some other persons, accompanied the carriage which conveyed the corpse of Mother Mathilda to its last resting place, in the graveyard of Independence. But on the way they were met by a Sheriff who had been deputed by the authorities to forbid entrance into the town, for fear of contagion. However, the Bishop's firm attitude, and perhaps, too, compassion for the sad spectacle, caused this official to relent. They continued their way to the graveyard, and there they saw the cold earth receive into its bosom the remains of her whom they had loved and reverenced. The Bishop... now took the three Sisters, Catherine, Hilaria and Roberta, to the town and left them there, whilst Sister Magdalen remained in the warehouse with Sister Monica. But... Sister Magdalen herself was attacked with the cholera, and made what she believed to be her last confession. ...the Bishop, unable to make better arrangements, had the two dying sisters removed to tents about two miles from the town... After a few days, Sister Magdalen began to recover. ...It was impossible for Sister Monica to proceed any further, her recovery being doubtful, and in spite of her great desire to pursue the journey to New Mexico, she returned to Independence... As Sister Magdalen could travel in a carriage, although very weak, they left Independence on Saturday, July 31st, to go into camp some four miles distant, where the Bishop and part of his Suite... had already encamped."

"Bishop Lamy, ever anxious for the good of his diocese, desired to enrich it with devoted Sisters, to teach the young, knowing well that this was the best way to reach the people. Having heard of the self-denial of Father Nerinckx's spiritual children, and of the severe training they had gone through, he concluded that they were the very ones whom Divine Providence had designed for the laborious missions which the Holy See had confided to his care. He applied for a colony of Sisters, and his request was cheerfully granted. Faithful to its traditions, and to the injunctions of its founder, Loretto could not refuse a mission which seemed to promise nothing but hardships and privations."

"In his new diocese he found but few priests, while it was destitute of educational establishments of any kind. The young bishop put his hand to the grand work of building up Catholicity... His adventures and long journeys over the vast plains extending from Kansas City to Fort Union, plains with no inhabitants, then, save wild beasts and roving Indians, border on romance. Though about nine hundred miles in extent, Dr. Lamy crossed these plains twelve times for the welfare of his vast diocese."

"The indefatigable Dr. Lamy set out on horseback, with a solitary guide, for the city of Durango; he had an interview with its Bishop, and everything was settled amicably. Without taking time for rest, he returned, having performed a journey of three thousand miles on horseback."

"Though arrived at his destination, the Bishop soon found himself surrounded by great difficulties. Both the clergy and the people were unwilling to acknowledge the new prelate's authority. ...before its annexation to the United States, New Mexico being under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durango, in Mexico... The saintly Bishop of Durango, Dr. Zubiria, had been advised in time, and had immediately set out for New Mexico, visiting every mission of the diocese, and performing everywhere his episcopal duties. But he had not been consulted in the dismemberment of his diocese, and he felt quite unwilling to quietly stand by it. The clergy had another reason, they had been living at ease twelve hundred miles from their Bishop, and they dreaded the presence of the new prelate among them; I might add, that many of them were utterly opposed to American rule, either civil or ecclesiastical."

"In Santa Fé, old persons relate a fact which shows their faith. The ground was parched for want of water, all the water courses and ditches were dried up, sheep and cattle were in a dying condition, and poverty was staring in the face of the people. But on the day of the Bishop's arrival, a bountiful rain fell, animate and inanimate nature was refreshed, grass sprung up, and the year was one of plenty."

"Once, while a guest of Dr. Lamy, I espied some volumes in his library, that seemed to have received a thorough soaking, and looked like veterans battered in war, amid new recruits. I inquired of the venerable Archbishop the meaning of it. His eyes sparkled; a smile lit up his kindly face, and he told me that they were fished out of the waters of the Gulf. With great kindness, and even joy at the remembrance, he described to me his shipwreck, his desolation at having lost everything, till spying quite near the shore one of his trunks drifting seaward, he offered a small sum of money to a young negro boy, who swam to the trunk, and, pushing it before him as he swam shoreward, brought it to land. It was opened. Oh ! in what condition ! The books in my hands were of those saved in that one trunk, all else was lost."

"Eleven years were thus spent for the Lord, when in 1850, Father Lamy was created by the Holy See, Bishop of Agathon in part. inf. and Vicar Apostolic of New Mexico. No time was to be lost, and so with his usual energy, the young Bishop, only thirty-six years of age, repaired to Cincinnati, was consecrated by Dr. Purcell on the 24th of November, 1850, and immediately after set out to "conquer" his See... Leaving his sister at the hospital of the Sisters of Charity, and his niece, Mother Francisca, then a young lady, at the Ursuline Convent in New Orleans, he embarked alone on a vessel sailing for Galveston..."